Controlling Services in a Packet Data Network

1. A system, comprising: a detector configured to detect a change in a state of a connection between a terminal device and a gateway node of a packet data based communication network; a first transmitter configured to send, in response to the change, a service policy request for said terminal device from the gateway node to a session controller; a generator configured to generate, at the session controller, in response to the service policy request, at least one service policy, wherein the at least one service policy is generated based on at least one of the service policy request, subscription data received by the session controller in response to a subscription data request from the session controller to a subscription database, and preconfigured information at the session controller, wherein said at least one service policy comprises service information indicating service entities which are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device and an order in which the service entities are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device; a second transmitter configured to transmit the at least one service policy to the gateway node; and a provider configured to provide, at the indicated service entities, services in the indicated order, wherein the gateway node is configured to determine which service rules included in the received at least one service policy have to be indicated to the service entities, and to send said determined service rules to the respective service entities to process the packet data in the order indicated by the service information of said at least one service policy.

2. A method, comprising: detecting a change in a state of a connection between a terminal device and a gateway node of a packet data based communication network; sending, in response to the change, a service policy request for said terminal device from the gateway node to a session controller of the packet data based communication network; receiving at least one service policy from the session controller, wherein the at least one service policy is generated based on at least one of the service policy request, subscription data received by the session controller in response to a subscription data request from the session controller to a subscription database, and preconfigured information at the session controller, wherein said at least one service policy comprises service information indicating service entities which are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device and an order in which the indicated service entities are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device; determining at the gateway node which service rules included in the received at least one service policy have to be indicated to the service entities; and sending said determined service rules from the gateway node to the respective service entities to process the packet data in the order indicated by the service information of said at least one service policy; wherein services are provided in the indicated order, at the indicated service entities.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising: forwarding, in the indicated sequence order, from the gateway node to each of the indicated service entities, at least one service entity specific service rule according to which the respective service entity is to provide its services, wherein the services of each indicated service entity are provided according to its respective at least one service rule received from the gateway node.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the packet data based communication network comprises an internet protocol based wireless communication network.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the internet protocol based wireless communication network comprises one of a wireless local area network, a general packet radio service enabled mobile communication network, and a code division multiple access based network.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the gateway node comprises one of a packet data gateway of the wireless local area network, a gateway general packet radio service support node of the general packet radio service enabled mobile communication network, and a packet data serving node of the code division multiple access based network.

7. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising storing the at least one service policy received from the session controller at the gateway node.

8. The method according to claim 3 , wherein each service entity specific service rule is stored at the respective service entity that received it from the gateway node.

9. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said change comprises one of a received request for access bearer establishment and a received request for access bearer modification.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one service entity specific service rule is deleted after the established access bearer is released.

11. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said change comprises a request for establishing a service flow.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one service entity specific service rule is deleted after the detected new service flow is terminated.

13. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising storing the service rules at the gateway node for later distribution to the service entities.

14. A method, comprising: receiving a service policy request for a terminal device from a gateway node, at a session controller of a packet data based communication network, when a change in a state of a connection between the terminal device and the gateway node has been detected; generating, at the session controller, in response to the service policy request, at least one service policy, wherein the at least one service policy is generated based on at least one of the service policy request, subscription data received by the session controller in response to a subscription data request from the session controller to a subscription database, and preconfigured information at the session controller, wherein said at least one service policy comprises service information indicating network service entities which are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device and an order in which the indicated network service entities are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device; and sending the at least one service policy to the gateway node, the gateway node configured to determine which service rules included in the received at least one service policy have to be indicated to the service entities, and to send said determined service rules to the respective service entities to process the packet data in the order indicated by the service information of said at least one service policy.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein said generating further comprises generating at least one network service entity specific service rule according to which said network service entities are to provide their respective services.

16. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising: sending, prior to said generating the at least one service policy, a request for subscription data associated with a subscriber of said terminal device from the session controller to a subscriber database of the packet data based communication network; receiving the subscription data in response to the request; and utilizing the subscription data in generating the at least one service policy.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the subscriber database updates said subscription data associated with said subscriber of said terminal device, the method further comprising: sending a request for the updated subscription data to the subscriber database; and receiving the updated subscription data in response to the request.

18. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising: receiving, prior to said generating the at least one service policy, application session and media data from an application function network element; and utilizing the application session and media data in generating the at least one service policy.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the application function network element updates said application session and media data, the method further comprising receiving the updated application session and media data.

20. The method according to claim 14 , wherein said services to be provided include at least one of rerouting, barring, accounting, content proxy service, content blocking service, firewall service, virus scanning service, antispam service, performance enhancement proxy service, virtual private network service, quality of service related service, and charging related service for at least one of online and offline charging.

21. An apparatus, comprising: a detector configured to detect a change in a state of a connection between a terminal device and the apparatus of a packet data based communications network; a service policy requesting unit configured to send to a session controller, in response to the change, a service policy request for said terminal device; and a receiver configured to receive at least one service policy from the session controller, wherein the at least one service policy is generated based on at least one of the service policy request, subscription data received by the session controller in response to a subscription data request from the session controller to a subscription database, and preconfigured information at the session controller, wherein said at least one service policy comprises service information indicating service entities which are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device and an order in which the indicated service entities are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device, wherein services are provided in the indicated order, at the indicated service entities, and wherein the apparatus is configured to determine which service rules included in the received at least one service policy have to be indicated to the service entities, and to send said determined service rules to the respective service entities to process the packet data in the order indicated by the service information of said at least one service policy.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21 , further comprising: a forwarder configured to forward to each of the indicated service entities, at least one service entity specific service rule according to which the respective service entity is to provide its services, wherein the services of each indicated service entity are provided according to its respective at least one service rule received from the apparatus.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein the packet data based communication network comprises an internet protocol based wireless communication network.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23 , wherein said change comprises one of a received request for access bearer establishment and a received request for access bearer modification.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24 , wherein the at least one service entity specific service rule is deleted after the established access bearer is released.

26. The apparatus according to claim 23 , wherein said change comprises a detected new service flow.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26 , wherein the at least one service entity specific service rule is deleted after the detected new service flow is terminated.

28. The apparatus according to claim 23 , wherein the internet protocol based wireless communication network comprises one of a wireless local area network, a general packet radio service enabled mobile communication network, and a code division multiple access based network.

29. The apparatus according to claim 28 , wherein the apparatus comprises one of a packet data gateway of the wireless local area network, a gateway general packet radio service support node of the general packet radio service enabled mobile communication network, and a packet data serving node of the code division multiple access based network.

30. The apparatus according to claim 22 , further comprising a storage configured to store the at least one service policy received from the session controller.

31. The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein each service entity specific service rule is stored at the respective service entity that received it from the apparatus.

32. The apparatus according to claim 21 , wherein said apparatus is further configured to store the service rules for later distribution to the service entities.

33. An apparatus, comprising: a receiver configured to receive a service policy request for a terminal device from a gateway node of a packet data based communications network, when a change in a state of a connection between the terminal device and the gateway node has been detected; a generator configured to generate, in response to the service policy request, at least one service policy, wherein the at least one service policy is generated based on at least one of the service policy request, subscription data received by the session controller in response to a subscription data request from the session controller to a subscription database, and preconfigured information at the session controller, wherein said at least one service policy comprises service information indicating network service entities which are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device and an order in which the indicated network service entities are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device; and a transmitter configured to send the at least one service policy to the gateway node, the gateway node being configured to determine which service rules included in the received at least one service policy have to be indicated to the service entities, and to send said determined service rules to the respective service entities to process the packet data in the order indicated by the service information of said at least one service policy.

34. The apparatus according to claim 33 , wherein said generator is further configured to generate at least one network service entity specific service rule according to which said network service entities are to provide their respective services.

35. The apparatus according to claim 33 , further comprising: a subscription data requesting unit configured to send a request for subscription data associated with a subscriber of said terminal device to a subscriber database of the packet data based communication network, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive the subscription data in response to the request, and wherein the generator is further configured to utilize the subscription data in generating the at least one service policy.

36. The apparatus according to claim 35 , wherein the subscriber database updates said subscription data associated with said subscriber of said terminal device, the apparatus further comprising: a subscription data update requesting unit configured to send a request for the updated subscription data to the subscriber database, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive the updated subscription data in response to the request.

37. The apparatus according to claim 33 , wherein the receiver is further configured to receive application session and media data from an application function network element, and wherein the generator is further configured to utilize the application session and media data in generating the at least one service policy.

38. The apparatus according to claim 37 , wherein the application function network element updates said application session and media data, and wherein the receiver is further configured to receive the updated application session and media data.

39. The apparatus according to claim 33 , wherein said services to be provided include at least one of rerouting, barring, accounting, content proxy service, content blocking service, firewall service, virus scanning service, antispam service, performance enhancement proxy service, virtual private network service, quality of service related service, and charging related service for at least one of online and offline charging.

40. A computer program, embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, configured to control a processor to provide operations comprising: detecting a change in a state of a connection between a terminal device and a gateway node of a packet data based communication network; sending, in response to the change, a service policy request for said terminal device from the gateway node to a session controller of the packet data based communication network; receiving at least one service policy from the session controller, wherein the at least one service policy is generated based on at least one of the service policy request, subscription data received by the session controller in response to a subscription data request from the session controller to a subscription database, and preconfigured information at the session controller, wherein said at least one service policy comprises service information indicating service entities which are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device and an order in which the indicated service entities are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device; determining at the gateway node which service rules included in the received at least one service policy have to be indicated to the service entities; and sending said determined service rules from the gateway node to the respective service entities to process the packet data in the order indicated by the service information of said at least one service policy; wherein services are provided in the indicated order, at the indicated service entities.

41. A computer program, embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, configured to control a processor to provide operations comprising: receiving a service policy request for a terminal device from a gateway node, at a session controller of a packet data based communication network, when a change in a state of a connection between the terminal device and the gateway node has been detected; generating, at the session controller, in response to the service policy request, at least one service policy, wherein the at least one service policy is generated based on at least one of the service policy request, subscription data received by the session controller in response to a subscription data request from the session controller to a subscription database, and preconfigured information at the session controller, wherein said at least one service policy comprises service information indicating network service entities which are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device and an order in which the indicated network service entities are to be utilized for providing services to said terminal device; and sending the at least one service policy to the gateway node, the gateway node being configured to determine which service rules included in the received at least one service policy have to be indicated to the service entities, and to send said determined service rules to the respective service entities to process the packet data in the order indicated by the service information of said at least one service policy.